G2 Esports Signs Promisq, Considers Resting Starter Mikyx

Having already secured the top seed for the LEC playoffs, G2 Esports signs support promisq as a sub and will closely monitor starter Mikyx’s wrist injury.

G2 Esports Signs Promisq, Considers Resting Starter Mikyx

G2 Esports added a new player to its roster. Leading the LEC standings and with the top seed for the spring split playoffs already in the bag, the four-time European champions have officially announced the signing of veteran support Hampus Mikael ‘promisq’ Abrahamsson as a substitute for its League of Legends roster. The move happens after head coach Fabian “GrabbZ” Lohmann revealed last week on Twitter that starter Mihael ‘Mikyx’ Mehle has been dealing with a chronic wrist injury since the beginning of the spring split.

We’re top of the #LEC – but even the best need rest. The #G2ARMY is bringing in reinforcements.

While Mikyx will likely remain as the starter for the regular season’s final week, G2 hasn’t taken any options out of the table. As the team closely monitors Mikyx’s situation, it could ultimately decide to rest its starter. In this case, promisq, a veteran who most recently played for H2k during the last summer split, would temporarily take over the starting spot. G2 has already secured the bye for the first week of playoffs. Resting Mikyx now would give its starter two additional weeks to recover.

G2 Esports dominated its competition through the first half of the 2019 LEC spring split. Securing an undefeated 9-0 record before dropping its first match of the split against longtime rivals Origen. The team lost another two games against SK and Splyce. While coming close to a 0-2 score in week 8 before pulling off a comeback against Team Vitality. The drop in performance did not go unnoticed. GrabbZ brought Mikyx’s wrist injury to light.

According to the G2 head coach, Mikyx has dealt with pain in his wrists and arms “for a long time”. But the issue aggravated itself over the course of the split. As the team looked for orientation from specialists, it ultimately decided to rest Miky. This limited his participation in scrimmages while relieving the support player from solo queue duty. Additionally, GrabbZ also revealed that G2 reduced its practice time for the entire team in order to save energy for the championship’s decisive stretch.

Given the cutthroat nature of top level esports competitions, the lack of practice showed on stage. G2 no longer looked like the unstoppable force from the beginning of the split. After dominating the competition through the first half and looking unbeatable, the four-time champions showed some cracks in their armor. Losing in convincing fashion to Origen before conceding a comeback against SK. The team suffered back-to-back defeats, dropping week 8’s opener against Splyce and narrowly avoided going 0-2. For the first time this split by snatching victory from the jaws of defeat and pulling off an unlikely comeback against second place Team Vitality.

Getting to know Hampus “promisq” Mikael Abrahamsson

A veteran player who has been around the competitive League of Legends European scene since 2015. Hampus “promisq” Mikael Abrahamsson joins his fifth different team at the top level.

The support began his career playing for Challenger series team inFerno eSports before joining the rebranded team Elements (2014 summer split champions Alliance) for the 2015 summer split. promisq did not last long as a starter, losing his spot to the previously retired Patrick “Nyph” Funke for the remainder of the split. The player renamed to spratell and took over the spot again for the start of the 2016 spring split. Elements had a disappointing performance, ending up in seventh place.

Career as spratell

spratell signed with newcomers FC Schalke 04 for the 2016 summer split as the Bundesliga team’s esports branch bought Elements’ EU LCS seed. S04 finished its debut season in eight place and lost to Misfits Gaming in the Promotion series, getting relegated to the EU CS for the 2017 spring split. spratell then left Schalke and joined another soccer team, signing for newcomers Paris Saint-Germain eSports. PSG utlimately failed to secure promotion and lost to Fnatic Academy in the playoffs.

Despite this, spratell found his way back into the EU LCS, ironically signing for Ninjas in Pyjamas, which had just acquired Fnatic Academy’s spot. NiP had a poor showing and lost the Promotion series against spratell’s former team Schalke 04, suffering relegation to the Challenger Series. spratell went back to his old ID promisq and managed to stay in the top tier, joining H2k Gaming.

Renaming to promisq

For the first time in his career, promisq made it to the playoffs as H2k dropped a closely fought series against 2018 spring split sensation Team Vitality. The good momentum did not carry over for summer however. H2k went 0-12 to start the split, ultimately finishing dead last in the standings with a 2-16 record. The British team did not make it as one of the ten franchises for the rebranded LEC. Its roster was disbanded and promisq found himself unemployed before joining G2.

promisq has reportedly taken part in scrimmages with his new team in Mikyx’s place, so joining them on stage would not be that big of a jump.

Wrist injuries: a common problem for professional players

What Mikyx has been dealing with isn’t exactly something new. In fact, wrist injuries rank among the most common health problems faced by professional players. The constant, repetitive movements naturally for long period of time over the course of the day put a huge strain on that part of the body. This lead to recurring injuries. In League of Legends’s case, the issue has affected a number of players, including some well-known names.

TSM superstar mid laner Soren “Bjergsen” Bjerg had to seek treatment for a wrist injury back in 2015, but ultimately recovered. Reigning world champions Invictus Gaming also had to deal with a similar issue last year as superstar top laner Kang “TheShy” Seung-lok sat out during the 2018 LPL spring split playoffs due to a hand injury. When it comes to famous cases, however, it’s impossible not to talk about RNG’s Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest League of Legends players of all time, the legendary AD carry has dealt with wrist injuries for most of his career. It’s not uncommon for Uzi to sit out during competitions. Earlier this year, RNG once again found itself without its franchise player and Uzi had to be sidelined due to an undisclosed problem. As it usually happens, speculations regarding his retirement surfaced. After the Lunar New Year break, Uzi came back to the roster and hasn’t missed a single game since then.

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